Thursday, 27 December 2012

Illustrated Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (Edward Fitzgerald)

This is a reading of most of the verses of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, as rendered by Edward Fitzgerald in 1859, accompanied by the illustrations of René Bull and the oud-playing of Khyam Allami. This a reprise of my very first ever blog post, a version of the Rubáiyát in 29 verses. The following now doubles that number.

Omar Khayyám, born in 11th century Persia, was an inspirational figure: a mathematician, poet, philosopher and astronomer, who also wrote treatises on music and minerology, and contributed to the development of a more accurate calendar. Fitzgerald's rendering of his Rubáiyát, while far from literal, is also pure inspiration. Enjoy in HD!

2 comments:

nice poem okei good to see you :) ty for all the comments left on my page I wish I had more time for it but it seems i have less and less time for the things I truly enjoy these days however im glad I stopped to read this poem ty so much for having it posted best wishes in the new year

Fire! So good to hear from you. Can you believe it's been four years since we met? I'm still in the same predicament as then... I do hope we'll stay in touch, however infrequently.

I do know what you mean about time, but I still have faith in possibility — the possibility of doing all that we are capable of, and all that we enjoy and want to do. What I struggle with is to bring this faith into the present moment, instead of looking forward to a promised future. And this is one reason why I really love this poem, and the inspirational figure of Omar Khayyam who wrote it, and of course the inspiration of Fitzgerald to render it so beautifully into English.

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My online pen-name is okei. I'm a lover of mathematics & poetry & philosophy, and a perennial student in the UK with an interest in sport, world music, world film, the wisdom of the mystics, and the essence of beauty, love and knowledge.